


Zombie Matsuri

by Lady_Tragedy



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, Angst, Blow Jobs, Implied queerplatonic relationship(s), Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, M/M, Original Character Death(s), Rating May Change, Smut, Violence, Warnings May Change, Zombie Apocalypse, Zombie Matsuri, Zombies, but that's like in the next chapters, inspired by Grace_Logan's just a little unstable, it's a really angsty story I'm so sorry, just a lil bit here and there, kagehina-freeform, mentions of food-deprivation, will add tags and characters as i go
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-25
Updated: 2017-07-09
Packaged: 2018-11-04 17:47:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10995858
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_Tragedy/pseuds/Lady_Tragedy
Summary: It's been three years since the Zombie Outbreak and the food is scarce, the dead run wild across the world, and the only chance of survival for the all the volleyball crew is The Camp, the last government-controlled shelter in Japan.The problem is, the map to Tokyo (along with what might be the cure to the zombie virus) is lost somewhere in Kageyama's mind, but said mind might be...Just a little bit unstable.





	1. Chapter 1: Collecting moments

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Grace_Logan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Grace_Logan/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Just a little unstable](https://archiveofourown.org/works/2559713) by [Grace_Logan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Grace_Logan/pseuds/Grace_Logan). 



> I'm back!!! \\(nwn)/
> 
> Finals are almost over, today's my birthday and as an end-of-semester/birthday-present from me to me, I decided to finally release this piece I've been working on for so, SO long. Like, you have no idea.  
> I first got the idea from Gracie's wonderful story "Just a bit unstable" (link's at the end) which you should TOTALLY read, and it's been years of drafting and planning and plain out banging my head against the keyboard until this baby came out.
> 
> I hope you like it, hate it, love it as much as I do, fasten your belts for a descent to the land of the dead!!

 

**(** <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRXpnXRKM40> **)**

 

Waking up in the middle of the zombiepocalypse was always an impredictable experience.

 

From Kageyama’s point of view, there wasn’t anything as interesting as that. Would you wake up to a zombie entering the room, ready to eat you? Or would you find a can of deliciously sweet pineapple slices? Who knew?

 

There wasn’t a thing you could foresee for the day, and as such, Kageyama liked to be prepared for every eventuality. That’s why he was currently setting up a wire trap near the east entrance of the abandonned college that was currently his home.

 

“One can never be sure with these things, dumbass Hinata.” He said, panting ever so slightly. Even though he had been almost a whole year on the run before settling here, the effort of tensing the wire and stretching it over the stair’s banister still left him short-breathed. “I tell you, if we let our guard down even for one moment, they’ll come upstairs and then we’ll have to run again. And this is a good place, isn’t it? We have food here, lots of food.”

 

Kageyama suddenly stopped his labor and stood up, his blue eyes scanning the empty hallway before him with a lost expression. He dropped both the wire and the tweezers he had been using, and started walking up the stairs.

 

“Food is good.” He mumbled, sounding vaguely distracted. “You should eat more, Hinata.”

 

With his eyes casted down, Kageyama didn’t notice the pair of eyes that had been watching him since he started working on the wire trap a couple hours ago, and that followed him to the big wooden double doors of the lab where he spent most of his time locked in.

 

Tsukishima Kei sighed heavily before turning around and walking towards the northern wing of the building, where Kuroo and the others had settled their quarters. He kept his right hand on the handle of the hatchet he had strapped to his leg while he walked, out of pure habit, even though he hadn’t encountered a single zombie since they arrived to Kageyama’s sanctuary.

 

 _‘Just like he promised,’_ Tsukishima thought.

 

A frown appeared on his face as he remembered Kageyama’s lost gaze and slumped posture. There were many things Tsukishima had gone through in the three years and a half that the zombiepocalypse had been going on, but he couldn’t think of anything that could’ve made his former teammate loose that creepy piercing look he used to have all the time.

 

Suddenly, Tsukishima was assaulted by a thought of Yamaguchi, as it often happened. Decidedly ignoring the pang in his chest, he sighed again.

 

 _‘Maybe that’s what happened to him,’_ he reasoned. ‘ _I wouldn’t blame him, if that was the case_.’

 

When he was a few doors away of his destination, Tsukishima started dragging his feet on the rug and gently knocking the walls with the back of his hand, imitating the sound a stumbling body would cause if walking down the hallway.

 

Surely enough, a faint sound of footsteps and shuffling bodies came out of the last door to the right. Hiding a chuckle, Tsukishima stopped right beside the door, holding the handle silently. A loud “shush” could be heard from inside the room, and Tsukishima took that as his cue to crouch down and open the door abruptly with a “ROAAAAAARR!!”

 

An arrow stabbed the wall right where his head would’ve been had he not been on the floor, and he felt someone’s legs knock against his shoulders right before he sprang up, tackling down whoever had tried to run out of the room.

 

“Tsukishima you jackass!!” Was Oikawa’s whiny complain before slumping down on the tattered leather couch that served as his bed on Mondays and Thursdays.

 

Or what they thought were Mondays and Thursdays anyway, Tsukishima thought. They were no longer sure of the veracity of their calendars, after so long.

 

“I told ya he was playing a prank on us.” Kuroo drawled, his lopsided smirk making his scarred face look even more dangerous. Tsukishima swallowed discreetly. There was no point in telling Tetsurou just how handsome he looked even with that ugly bandage covering what was left of his right eye. “When will be the day when you guys take seriously _my_ expertise in whatever concerns Tsukishima Kei?”

 

“When that _expertise_ proves useful, that’s when.” Iwaizumi intervened. “Kunimi, put that damn bow down, for fuck’s sake. Nobody wants to lose another eye.”

 

Kunimi hastily lowered his crossbow, and went to retrieve both his lost arrow and Kindaichi, who was still laying on the floor where Tsukishima had put him.

 

“Hey! I can hear you, you insensitive asshole. I’m blind of an eye, not deaf.” Kuroo retorted grumpily, and crossed his arms in feigned indignation, even though everyone knew this was just a routine act to lighten the mood.

 

Tsukishima reckoned that if it wasn’t for their senior’s antics, probably Akira and Yuutarou wouldn’t have endured the horrors of the zombiepocalypse as well as they had. After all, they weren’t half as resilient as himself.

 

Or so he thought, but then again...

 

_‘Who knows?’_

 

At least, Iwaizumi relented (the way he always did) with no more than a wave of the hand. “Fine, fine, I’m sorry. Happy now, Mr. One-Eye?”

 

“Wow, _rude_.” Kuroo touched his chest in a delicate manner, and batted his eyelashes at Iwaizumi. “Didn’t your mom teach you any manners?”

 

Tsukishima’s eyes widened, and he knew by his sudden stiffness the exact moment in which Kuroo realized his mistake. Before he could say anything, though, Oikawa gracefully took Iwaizumi’s hand, dragging him towards the couch to sit down, at the same time he asked with a smooth, casual voice: “How’s our dear Kageyama doing, Kei-chan?”

 

Feeling Kunimi’s intense glare over him, Tsukishima let the nickname pass without complaint and started talking, ignoring the non-verbal exchange between Oikawa and Kuroo that was obviously a ‘no-family-comments-allowed-in-this-room’ warning.

 

“He’s not well, as you already know,” he started. “He spent most of his morning setting up what seemed to be a wire trap on the stairs of the east entrance, but he didn’t finish it. He went up to his quarters without even taking the wire back with him, although that’s typical Kageyama behavior as of now.” Tsukishima paused, not sure if he should mention everything or if he could spare his former teammate the embarrassment. When he looked up again, he encountered Oikawa’s demanding eyes, their shine reminding him of the missing light in Kageyama’s blue ones. Tsukishima sighed for the third time in the day, and went on. “He’s still talking to Hinata, it seems. He doesn’t do it all the time, but... I think he sometimes forgets that... well, that Hinata isn’t here.”

 

Everyone looked down at this, not wanting to call Tsukishima out on his lie. Their group wasn’t one supportive of delusions, but omissions were permitted up to certain point. After all, it was easier to cope a loss when you though of it in terms of “missing person” instead of “death person”.

 

“Does he know he left it?”

 

Tsukishima looked up at Iwaizumi, a bit startled. He didn’t expected him to recover so soon from whatever weird state of mind he always entered when someone mentioned his mother; usually it took a couple minutes. “Excuse me, what?”

 

Iwaizumi snorted impatiently, but didn’t change his curled position in Oikawa’s arms. “I mean, does he know he left the wire behind? Or do you think we could go and take it without him noticing?”

 

“No, I don’t think he’ll notice,” Tsukishima replied after pondering for a bit, and then looked at all of their faces. Kunimi’s pale, thin face didn’t give away anything, but Tsukishima was almost sure that the glint in his eyes was interest. Key word being almost.

 

Then there was Kindaichi, whose eye-bags were getting darker with the day. He had the face of those who didn’t survive, in Tsukishima’s opinion, but he wasn’t allowed to wish or expect anyone’s death inside this team.

 

Oikawa had said so.

 

Of all of them, Oikawa was probably the one who had changed the least. Always the fearless leader, his brown hair had grown long enough to be tied in a ponytail, and his face remained unharmed from the havoc of the apocalypse, unlike Kuroo’s, with his right eye completely gone and three clean scratch scars adorning his left cheek.

 

Iwaizumi, on the other side, beared his scars on his arms, mostly, which were now more toned than Tsukishima thought fair. His handsome face only sported a small patch of what looked like burned skin, but Tsukishima had never asked.

 

Nobody asked anything, these days. Except...

 

“Where are Hanamaki and Matsukawa?”

 

It was Kunimi’s turn now to sigh. “They said they’d be exploring the building for possible escape routes, but I bet they’re making out somewhere near here.”

 

“Did you hear that, Makki? I think that’s the sound of _betrayal._ ”

 

True to his instincts, Tsukishima’s hatchet was in his hand before Matsukawa finished talking, ready to attack. Iwaizumi simply calmed him down with a steady glance that told him the duo had been standing on the door behind his back for a while, and then proceeded to uncurl himself off Oikawa’s lap.

 

“Welcome back, you weirdos. Any of you got bitten today?” Iwaizumi joked.

 

That was something they could do when it was about Makki, Mattsun, Iwaizumi or Kuroo. As far as they knew, they all were immune to The Fever, so they wouldn’t turn if they didn’t die first. The rest of them had to be more careful, at least until they proved to be immune, too.

 

Ignoring Makki and Mattsun’s conversation with Oikawa and Iwaizumi, Tsukishima closed his eyes as thoughts of that Kyouken-kun guy and his brown-haired companion swarmed in his head and made him shudder. Sometimes, people were stupid enough to let themselves get bitten just to prove their immunity. The problem was, immunity was a very rare treat and it didn’t exempt you from turning if you died of any other cause.

 

Which was what had happened to them just a few months ago. The resigned look in Yahaba’s eyes when he had noticed the rash on the back of Kyoutani’s neck still haunted Tsukishima in his dreams, and he always ended up asking himself if he would’ve been able to give Kuroo mercy the way Yahaba had done to Kyoutani.

 

Taking a deep breath, he opened his eyes to look at Kuroo and found him already looking back. Tsukishima felt something in his chest tighten at the knowing, tender look Kuroo was giving him, and he reached out to take his hand, twining their fingers. A small loving smile curved Kuroo’s dry lips, and there Tsukishima found his answer.

 

_‘Probably not.’_

 

* * *

 

 

_“Kageyama.”_

 

_Hinata’s whisper was enough to tore him off the lazy slumber he had finally settled in. With a groan of frustration, Kageyama turned around to face him and blurted out a dry “What.”_

 

_Still, as it always happened when he looked at Hinata these days, he regretted his rudeness and cursed himself for succumbing to anger so easily. The fragility that surrounded Hinata like an aura had the awful tendency of making him feel inadequate most of the time, since he had no idea how to behave in front of this small, thin version of the former decoy of Karasuno’s Volleyball Team._

 

_Hinata’s skin looked so pale that it was almost transparent in a creepy way. He reached out to hold Hinata close, pressing him against his chest to reassure himself that his friend hadn’t turned into a ghost during the night and wouldn’t vanish on thin-air._

 

_Kageyama made sure not to hold too tight, afraid of breaking Hinata. He was all sharp prominent bones and dry stretched skin that ressembled paper more than human flesh anymore, and the thinness of his wrists along with the clearly visible ribs scared Kageyama more than anything they had gone through during the year they had spent running from the zombies._

 

_The echo of Noya’s scream while disappearing beneath the rotten bodies of those monsters made Kageyama shiver, and he admitted yet again that there was no point in comparing different horrors just to know which one was worse. His fear of loosing Hinata was completely different from the fear he had felt when watching his teammates die one by one._

 

_“Sorry.” Kageyama finally whispered, and tucked Hinata’s head beneath his chin, enjoying the light flutter of his eyelashes against his neck. “What is it?”_

 

_Hinata pressed closer, and kissed the soft skin that covered his Adam’s apple with chapped lips. Kageyama only closed his eyes and took a deep breath before letting his hands run slowly up and down Hinata’s back._

 

_“Are you sure?”_

 

_Hinata pulled back and regarded him intently with his big brown eyes, the only thing that was still bright about him. Not even his hair, which was now way longer and was splayed over the blankets in a tangled mess, looked as orange as it used to. It was dry and covered with dust, and its color was dull enough to be considered more in the shade of browns than reds._

 

_The purple bags under his eyes made him look tired and sad, but Kageyama really couldn’t resist Hinata’s pleading look. He had never been able to, and now, after the zombie outbreak and the death of their friends, he had developed the softest of spots for Hinata, succumbing to his every wish almost instantly (although such vain things as “wishes” and “desires” were a rare occurence these days)._

 

_“I don’t think you’re strong enough right now for this, Hinata.” He said, concern heavy in his voice._

 

_Hinata had spent most days of the last week sleeping, weakened by hunger, while Kageyama went out of their shelter to search the area for food or water. He hadn’t found much (a can of tuna and some olives), and he was worried Hinata would tire himself out too much before they (he) found something else to eat._

 

_“Please.” Hinata croaked out, his voice raspy out of the lack of use and thirst, and pressed his forehead against Kageyama’s._

 

_Sighing, Kageyama breathed out a short “okay” before rolling over and pinning Hinata to the ground. He made sure to slip the ragged clothes that served them as blankets beneath Hinata’s back, so he wouldn’t get a back ache later. It wasn’t the most comfortable thing ever, but they’d done worse._

 

_He leaned down, looking at Hinata’s beautiful, broken face as if asking for permission before closing in and kissing him close-mouthed, slowly, softly. Everything with Hinata was soft, both out of fear of hurting him and out of..._

 

_Love, maybe. He wasn’t sure how to call it, because it wasn’t something they talked about. In fact, nowadays they did no talking at all. There was no need to say anything when nothing in this world made sense any more._

 

_Kageyama pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind, focusing instead in Hinata’s parted mouth and the way their tongues brushed together. He didn’t pay any attention to the smell of Hinata’s breath, already used to the salty taste of dirty skin and the rotten odors that came with the end of civilization._

 

_Small hands clutched to the back of his shirt, dragging him down in a rather weak attempt to bring him closer. Still, Kageyama went with it, rocking slowly between Hinata’s spread legs, holding firmly his hips with his right hand and cupping his head with his left._

 

_Heavy breaths became soft gasps as Kageyama kissed and nipped Hinata’s thin neck and licked his earshells, trailing a wet path with one swift swipe of his tongue over Hinata’s clavicles, sucking on the bones with fruition and eliciting a breathless sob to escape the boy’s dry throat._

 

_Hinata’s cold hands sneaked impatiently under Kageyama’s shirt, groping and scratching at the muscles of his back all the way up to his shoulder blades and down again in a maddening pattern that made Kageyama’s blood boil, arousal coiled thick in his belly._

 

_God, he loved it when Hinata scratched his back and circled his waist tightly with his legs, the way he was doing it now. The feeling of soft skin caressing his own skin, even if Hinata’s hands were so cold as to raise goosebumps on his back, was what Kageyama liked the most of this weird affair they had going on since The House Incident (which was how he called the disastrous evening in which all the second years minus Tanaka-san had died, three months after Nishinoya’s own terrifying death)._

 

_Human contact was so scarce since the zombies had attacked that Kageyama had gladly accepted anything and everything Hinata had offered him in dark corners or closed rooms first, and in open fields or in a make-shift shelter on a tree once, after all their friends had died off, and they were the only living beings in miles around._

 

_He hadn’t specially questioned it or its meaning, because as far as he could understand he and Hinata were stuck together from now on to the foreseeable future, and they both needed it to soothe the pain from living in the rough, inhospitable world were the zombies outnumbered the living by hundreds or maybe thousands._

 

_Desperate for feeling more of Hinata, Kageyama leaned down and captured the read-head’s mouth again, thrusting in with his tongue and brushing it greedily against the back of Hinata’s teeth, the roof of his mouth and his own slick, warm tongue. A loud moan tried to escape Hinata’s mouth, but it was muffled by Kageyama’s lips sealing his mouth with a more insistent kiss._

 

_It was cold inside their shelter, but that didn’t stop Kageyama from pulling at Hinata’s shirt until it lay discarded beside them. Kageyama pulled back slowly after a sweet peck on the lips, sitting on his heels to let Hinata catch his breath while he took off the rest of their clothes. Lately Hinata was too tired to do it on his own, so he just stayed put with both hands beside his head and let Kageyama do the work._

 

_Kageyama caught his breath, mesmerized as he always was when he got to see Hinata’s naked body, scarred as it was from multiple falls and other non-lethal injuries that looked still too pink to be so many weeks old. His eyes skimmed appreciatively over Hinata’s slightly flushed face, his kiss-swollen lips and the shy position of his legs, bent to the side to cover his groin._

 

_The pallor of his skin almost made it shine in the gray light of the hours before the sunrise, bringing to Kageyama the memory of a shitty vampire movie he had seen when he was little, and a huff of laughter broke the constant rythm of his panting breaths. Hinata looked up at him with a questioning gaze that looked incredibly sexy from behind that overgrown fringe that covered half of his right eye and framed his face beautifully._

 

_Kageyama smiled softly and shook his head, indicating that it was nothing important, and leaned down again to pepper soft kisses over Hinata’s chest and stomach while gently separating his legs again. Hinata let the questions go when he felt Kageyama’s hot breath over the sensitive skin of his ribs, and gave up almost instantly trying to keep Kageyama from picking at his now very notorious erection, easily submitting to his expert ministrations and letting himself be moved and touched how and where Kageyama wanted._

 

_It hadn’t always been like this, Kageyama thought a bit regretfully while he closed his mouth on the head of Hinata’s dick and sucked lightly. There had been a time when Hinata had fought him passionately to top, to undress him, to make him come first. But, –Kageyama swirled his tongue around Hinata’s lenght twice before taking him in his mouth down to the base, –those times had gone along with their food supply and the warmth of the sun, and now Kageyama did his best to take care of Hinata and make him feel as good as possible._

 

_Not that he resented it at all, Kageyama realized as he pulled his lips over his teeth and started moving his head up and down until he felt Hinata’s tip hit against the back of his throat. After all, –and this Kageyama managed to think even with Hinata pulling at his hair and writhing desperately beneath him, –Hinata was his everything._

 

 _The acrid taste of Hinata’s come bathed Kageyama’s tongue after one last sharp cry, and Kageyama swallowed it all, in the hopes of it having enough nutrients to keep him going for a day or two without the tuna he wanted Hinata to eat all by himself. He kept Hinata’s pulsing cock in his mouth until he felt if soften, and after sucking playfully a bit more –“_ Stop” _, Hinata had mumbled before pulling his knees to his chest to forbid him form touching his too sensitive groin again, –he let go and started tugging Hinata’s shirt over his head to put it on._

 

_A bony hand caught his wrist with no real strenght behind it, but still Kageyama stopped moving. He met Hinata’s inquisitive gaze, and shook his head slowly, another soft smile curving his mouth. “I’ll take care of it later,” he said, breaking his wrist free of Hinata’s grasp and placing the boy’s palm against his cheek instead. “It’s too cold right now, and also, I’m tired.”_

 

_Kageyama didn’t like to lie, but Hinata’s accepting (and a little bit relieved) smile told him it had been the right thing to do. It had been too much activity for their current health condition, and they needed to save as much energy as they could until they found something to eat._

 

 _Fully clothed now and wrapped again in their improvised blankets, Kageyama craddled a deliciously exhausted Hinata while he mentally went over all the places in the area with the highest probabilities of having food inside. The cold feeling of fear settled in his stomach when he realized he’d either have to go to the supermarket, –wich was a terrible idea since it was full to the brim with zombies,_ _–or travel further to the outskirts of the city and tempt his luck exploring the farms and big buildings near the highway._

 

_Kageyama swallowed his dread and forced himself to breathe more deeply. There was no place for fear when Hinata’s life depended on him._

 

_“The highway it is,” he whispered to himself, before untangling himself from Hinata’s limbs and standing up quietly. The sooner he went, the better for them._

 

_As he tugged on Tanaka’s yellow mountain jacket (the warmest jacket they had) and re-tied his boot’s laces as silently as he could, Kageyama felt a bit guilty for not waking Hinata up to say goodbye. Nevertheless, Hinata always went over the board with anxiety when Kageyama left, and it took more time to say their goodbyes than what Kageyama actually spent out._

 

_He wouldn’t be out for long, he told himself. Besides, Hinata was so tired he probably wouldn’t even wake up until Kageyama got back; there was no need to worry him when he was only going to explore a few buildings._

 

_With that in mind, Kageyama picked up the sledgehammer they kept as a weapon and slipped out of the small cabin, blocking the door with the heavy boulder that rested near the entrance as a special precaution to keep Hinata safe until he came back._

 

_Kageyama didn’t look back, hoping to find something to feed Hinata quickly enough. He didn’t even thought to kiss Hinata goodbye, so as to not accidentally wake him up._

 

_He had no way to know how much he’d regret that in the years to come._


	2. Summer Rain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The rain comes and brings with it memories that Tsukishima would rather not remember. A beginning hidden in the end of something else.
> 
> Or rather, someone else.

“It’s raining,” Tsukishima noted, watching absently as thick dropplets of water slid down the glass of the window.

 

Kuroo raised his head from the knife he was sharpening against a rock and quietly observed the blond’s distracted demeanor, admiring the way the soft gray-ish light of the early morning outlined his handsome features. “So it seems,” he answered after a while, and clapped his hands free of the rock’s dust as he walked to stand beside Tsukishima. Softly placing both hands over Kei’s shoulders, Kuroo nuzzled the back of his neck. It was their code for _"spill the beans hon"_ , and Tsukishima let out a huff that well could’ve been either in laughter or annoyance.

 

Without turning around, the blond started talking. “The rain today looks like it did on that day... So dense and gray...”

 

“Mmm,” Kuroo hummed non-commitally trying to hide his interest, arms now circling Kei’s waist and chin propped up on his shoulder. “Do you want to talk about it?,” he teased lightly, already knowing the answer.

 

“Not really.”

 

They stayed silent for a while, Kuroo wrapping his scarred arms around Tsukishima’s torso and Tsukki absently caressing the back of Kuroo’s hands with his eternally cold fingertips, eyes fixated on something that only him could see. Kuroo let him get lost in his thoughts, knowing all too well that this was Tsukishima’s way of dealing with his grief. He wasn’t one to cry out loud, or shout himself hoarse, or mop around until the sadness leaked out of his system.

 

Tsukki was a thinker, a practical guy whose life motto was to do what needed to be done with the minimum effort possible, so he’d carefully push his feelings to a box on the back of his mind until he could deal with them slowly, piece by piece, in a never ending mind effort to dissect and rationalize whatever it was that tormented him. So Kuroo let him, for now, observing closely Tsukki’s micro-expressions, ready to squeeze the blond’s waist if his frown got too deep or his hands started to get clammy to retrieve him from the thoughts in which Kuroo knew he was prone to get lost.

 

After all, it was the first time in almost three years that he talked about the rain.

 

* * *

 

 

Yamaguchi Tadashi raised his face to the sky, cold water drops splashing all over his cheeks, forehead and eyelids. For a moment, it was as if the only thing in the world was the rain breeze drenching his clothes, cooling down drastically the heat he was beginning to feel in his limbs.

 

He breathed in that earthy smell that always came with the late summer rain, and his aching lungs gratefully expanded to catch as much fresh air as they could. He could hear footsteps not too far behind him, thunderous, desorganized sounds that spoke about the ones stumbling his way.

 

Tears swelled on Yamaguchi's eyes, and a profound feeling of despair and exhaustion washed over him. In his aching head there was no space for thoughts of running or hiding; his whole body felt as if it were ready to burst in flames and the rain sliding over the bite wounds in his legs and arms reminded him of the fatality of his destiny.

 

Kneeling on the muddy road, exhausted, Yamaguchi opened his eyes to take in the gray, fuzzy world around him. The rain was falling in thick courtains that blurred out of focus the buildings and objects that Yamaguchi was sure were near him. He could only perceive vague figures on the distance if he squinted, but rain drops quickly gathered on his eyelashes, clouding his vision over and over again. Huffing a small laugh that sounded more pained than anything else, he gave up in yet another thing.

 

There was no way he'd catch a glimpse of Tsukishima before the zombies found him, and ridiculous as it was, gaving that hope up was harder for Yamaguchi than accepting his impending death.

 

 _'So this is it,'_ Yamaguchi thought. He hadn't even made it to the heart of the city, although he couldn't be bitter about it when both his father and Akiteru had died back in the airport, when the outbreak began three months ago.

 

"At least I helped Tsukki to survive," he told himself comfortingly. "At least they bit me, and not him."

 

Where his friend was, he had no idea. They had split up when Yamaguchi had used himself as a diversion to allow Kei escape the alley he had been trapped in, and even though he knew his diversion had been a "success", he still hadn't been able to locate his friend.

 

 _Friend_.

 

Now was definitely not the time to resent the fact that now he'd never get to confess Tsukki how he felt, but Yamaguchi couldn't help the sour taste that that word left in his mouth.

 

 _It's not like I'll have the chance to call him anything other than that,’_ he thought, and resigned himself to the feeling of incomplete quests, unsaid words... A life cut short too soon. As the stomping from the horde got closer, Yamaguchi started to feel a crazy itch on the back of his neck, on his arms and face. An ironic smile curved up his lips.

 

_‘Hopefully they'll take me before I can scratch my eyes out...’_

 

A tiny shudder escaped him at that. Akiteru's "turning" had been gruesome, to put it mildly. Yamaguchi thought he still had pieces of the guy's cornea somewhere in his hair.

 

Suddenly, a voice pierced the quiet of the rain, and Yamaguchi started to cry almost instantly.

 

_‘Not now. Please no, come back. Not now.’_

 

"Yamaguchi!!," the voice called. "Tadashi, please!! Where are you?!"

 

His throat had a knot that Yamaguchi could not swallow, but he knew he had to try. There was nothing they could do, nothing they could fix but...

 

_'Tsukki would never forgive me if I don't call back.'_

 

"TSUKKI!!!," Yamaguchi yelled with all his might, nails digging on his knees covered with mud to avoid loosing himself in the need to scratch the rash that had slowly overtaken his skin. "TSUKKI, HERE!"

 

"YAMAGUCHI!!"

 

The voice came from somewhere on his left, but it sounded farther away than the first time. Sobs choking his voice, Yamaguchi yelled again as loud as he could. "GO AWAY!! TSUKKI, _RUN_!"

 

Memories of their time together swarmed in Yamaguchi's mind eye, and he couldn't even laugh at how clicheéd it all was. Images of Kei digging into a strawberry cupcake as if it were his last meal, or stopping Ushijima's spike were everything Yamaguchi could've asked for when death was slowly closing its jaws over him (quite literally).

 

A smell of rotten flesh and dried blood reached Yamaguchi's nose, and a brand of terror he never knew existed settled over him like a gelid blanket. It felt as if a pit had opened on the dirt beneath him and he were falling at top speed to the center of the earth. His stomach felt heavy like rocks, pinning him to the ground more effectively than his bloodied legs had. His hands shook, whether it was in fear or cold, he didn't know and didn't care, because he heard the voice again. Tsukki's voice.

 

"Yamaguchi!! Where are you?!," he yelled. His voice sounded a tad closer, but he was still out of sight. "I can't find you, Yamaguchi please talk to me!!"

 

Yamaguchi didn't want to talk. He wanted to curl in a ball on the puddle of mud he was currently kneeling on and sleep forever after. He wanted to close his eyes and open them again to discover it was all a dream from his stupid, stupid mind.

 

He digged his nails on his knees until he felt the skin break and took a deep breath. "TSUKKI!!," he bellowed. Behind him, he heard dragging feet accelerating at the sound of his voice. "DON'T COME!! RUN!!"

 

The first bite came on his right shoulder, and Yamaguchi heard his bones crunch under the powerful jaws of the monster. He kept shouting.

 

"SURVIVE, TSUKKI!! SURVIVE!!!"

 

Two more zombies latched onto his other arm, effectively sending him to the ground face-first. Even though he had resolved to accept his fate as zombie food, Yamaguchi still tried to kick and punch as much as he could, struggling to get on his knees again for some reason. Right then, when the pain of teared out flesh was making Yamaguchi's vision go red, two figures appeared just across the road to his left.

 

 _‘Tsukki,’_ was all Yamaguchi could think while his eyes slid over familiar porcelain white skin, handsome sharp features and beautiful, molten gold eyes he couldn't quite see but knew where there. Yamaguchi smiled painfully, his body almost numb, the name of the boy before him serving as the only prayer he could think of.

 

They locked gazes, and Yamaguchi hoped he was conveying correctly through his eyes all the encouragement, all the apologies, and all the ' _I love you's_ ’ he wouldn't get to say. Tsukishima's horrified stare transformed into one of utter grief and impotence right before Yamaguchi felt his face hit the ground once more.

 

This time, though, there was no strenght left within him to get back up. He had seen what he had wanted to see. There was nothing more he could do now, so he closed his eyes and let go. The last thing Yamaguchi saw before dying was Tsukishima's hunched form encased in the arms of a particularly familiar black-haired man.

 

 _'Huh,'_ Yamaguchi thought idly, his consciousness already slipping away. ' _I wonder who he is...'_

 

Then it all went black.

 

 

 

On the other side of the road, a soaked Kuroo Tetsurou held a shaking Tsukishima Kei, and tried to haul him away from the bloody rests of what had been his best friend not ten seconds ago.

 

"Come on, Tsukki," Kuroo whispered in Tsukishima's ear. "We have to go now. We have to..."

 

"No," Tsukishima croaked out. "No! We have to help him!," he exclaimed, and started stuggling to free himself from Kuroo's embrace. "Yamaguchi... Please, Kuroo, help him..."

 

Kuroo's heart clenched painfully in his chest, but he didn't let go of Tsukishima.

 

"Tsukki, he's gone."

 

Forcing himself into Tsukishima's field of view, he looked right into his eyes and said it as clearly as he could. "Yamaguchi is gone, Tsukki. We have to go now or they'll catch us too."

 

Tsukishima's face went blank, but he followed Kuroo's lead without opposing any resistence until they were far enough that the smell of rotten meat was no longer perceptible.

 

"Kuroo," Tsukishima asked with a voice so thin that Kuroo almost didn't catch it over the noise of the rain. "What happened to Yamaguchi?"

 

Striken by the tears flowing from those usually cold, mocking eyes, Kuroo said the only thing he could come up with at the moment.

 

"He became rain, Tsukki. Yamaguchi became rain."

 

* * *

 

 

“Tsukki.”

 

With a soft hum, Kei aknowledged Kuroo’s quiet voice, not quite ready yet to tear his eyes off the window but knowing that his time for remembrance was up. Kuroo never interrupted him unless he saw him too upset with his own toughts or there was something urgent that needed their attention, so either way Tsukishima wouldn’t be able to go back to his daydream even if he wanted to.

 

Which, really, he did not. Remembering Yamaguchi’s death was still too painful, and Kei knew he still wasn’t ready to deal with it. Not just yet.

 

‘ _It’s been three years, though...’_

 

Suddenly, Kei remembered Kageyama and his dull eyes and his lonely muttering to empty rooms, talking to someone who wasn’t there and (for all Tsukishima knew) hadn’t been there in a long long time, if ever, and he understood just how insignificant time was when it came to grieving for a loved one’s death.

 

He sighed, and held out his hand for Kuroo to take it and lead him to one of the not-so-crappy couches in their quarters to lie down for a while. Kuroo’s touch was warm and gentle, like it always was, and not for the first time Tsukishima felt immensely grateful for having him here, as his companion in this horrid world that had become their reality. If Kuroo hadn’t found him when he did, Tsukki was sure he’d be dead by now. Without Yamaguchi to fight for, he wouldn’t have made it to the next day.

 

Yet, Kuroo had appeared like a godsend when Tsukishima most needed a strong shoulder to lean on, and he had never once left his side since then. Even though the price for that had been high. Too high.

 

Letting his head fall on Kuroo’s chest, Kei found himself staring at the shiny scar on the other man’s bicep. Dark, bumpy tissue covered the charred skin that Tsukishima could still smell in some of his nightmares, and he traced his fingers over it in a familiar gesture that no longer made Kuroo stiffen like it had at first.

 

That scar was a reminder of sorts of what they had both lost, and the nature of their bond. To Tsukishima, it was a reminder of cycles closing, best friends dying, of childhood tinted with memories of blood and fire.

 

To Kuroo, it was way worse. Because that scar spoke of choices that should’ve never been made, and betrayals that hurt less than they should. And since he beared it on his skin, it was also a permanent mark of his sin.

 

A sin of selfishness. Of choosing to stay by his crush’s side instead of going back to where his best friend waited for him, scared and alone and hungry. Of coming too late to save even his bones from the fire.

 

Kei leaned up, taking care of not digging his elbows onto Tetsurou’s ribs, and sealed his lips over salt-flavored skin, trailing up Kuroo’s chin to his mouth, and staying there, savoring the warmth and the taste of his boyfriend’s tongue. When he opened his eyes, he found Kuroo’s understanding gaze. He had received the message.

 

They shared the burden of all their past sins now. They were not alone.

 

Not anymore.

**Author's Note:**

> So!!! Stay tuned for more angst (and zombies)
> 
> Next up, we'll see how Bokuto and Akaashi cope with a zombie outbreak right in the middle of their summer-time! Will they make it? Will they die??
> 
> If you wanna yell at me, throw me a few ideas or just fangirl about Haikyuu!!, hit me up at tumblr, I'm chibi-mari!
> 
> Also, don't forget to read the jewel that inspired this story, Grace's "Just a little unstable" (https://archiveofourown.org/works/2559713?view_adult=true), and if possible look at her series "Torturing Kageyama in various ways", those are bloody good stories! (Pun intended xD)
> 
> Comments and kudos are very much appreciated, 'till next time!


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